UA Symposium Focuses on ‘Censorship, Free Speech and Free Press in the University’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Professors, authors, editors and other experts on freedom of expression will speak at the Bankhead Historical Symposium titled “Censorship, Free Speech and Free Press in the University” Oct. 13 and 14 on The University of Alabama campus.

The two-day event, co-sponsored by the UA department of history, UA Libraries and student and faculty organizations will begin with a reception opening the “Banned in Bama” exhibit at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library in Mary Harmon Bryant Hall on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Topics will include “You Can’t Say That! Censorship of Free Speech on Campus,” “We Dare Defend Our Rights: Teaching and Research,” “Minorities and Freedom of Expression on Campus and in Campus Media” and “Information Wants to be Free – Controlling Access to the Web.”

The symposium will conclude with a gala at the Westervelt-Warner Museum of American Art at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Panelists at the symposium sessions in the Ferguson Center Forum include

• John K. Wilson, Illinois State University, author, “The Myth of Political Correctness: The Conservative Attack on Higher Education”
• Earl H. Tilford, professor, Grove City College (Pa.); former director of research, U.S. Army Strategic Studies Institute; author and editor, Air University Review
• Douglas Ray, executive editor, The Tuscaloosa News
• Wayne Grytting, teacher, Seattle Public Schools; Internet columnist, author, “American Newspeak”
• David French, president, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
• Donald A. Downs, professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison, author, “Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus”
• Bruce Barrett, UA associate professor

“We have sought varied points of view in academia and the news media,” said Dr. David Beito, symposium co-organizer and UA associate professor of history.

“we are, however, united by common concern about freedom of expression in American universities,” added Dr. Maarten Ultee, symposium co-organizer and UA professor of history.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

In 1982, the Bankhead family established the Bankhead Endowment Fund to further historical research and scholarly activity in the history department in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. The Bankhead Fund has supported visiting lecturers, Bankhead Postdoctoral Fellows, conferences, faculty research projects and public symposia.